I am dealing with an odd juxtaposition of emotions as I attend my oldest son's high school graduation this morning, prepare myself for preaching tomorrow, prepare for my grandmother's funeral on Monday and a wedding next Saturday. In the midst of all of that we have about 20 people coming for lunch today after the graduation. I realize in this that I am participating in many transitions in the lives of those who are important to me and I feel the pressure to do it well and right and to say something of value and significance in the right place at the right time.
Transitions are important times in our lives and we typically aren't as well prepared for them as we should be. Ceremonies to mark those transitions matter, we are initiating a new phase in life and at the same time saying good bye to the past phase. Baptism is the clearest ceremony of demarcation of transition we have in our culture as it relates to past, present and future. These other ceremonies I will participate in over the next few days all relate most clearly to one or two of those "seasons" but the connection with all three is less explicit.
Standing on the edge of a new season of life is a precarious place to be. We prepare for this transition but at the same time we are aware that we aren't really prepared because we have no idea what actually comes next. The mixture of excitement and uncertainty is what the disciples must have felt when they were called to be Jesus' disciples, when Mary Magdalene told them Jesus had been resurrected and told them to go and wait for him, when they were told to wait in Jerusalem, and on the day of Pentecost. Welcome to the great adventure of life!
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